Why do pastors keep silent?

Editor:

Here’s a puzzle. Maybe the Christian pastors out there can help me. During the last 50 years, our country has engaged in a number of foreign wars. The Vietnam war was to save South Vietnam from communism. The cost was 48,000 American and 1 million Vietnamese lives. But Vietnam has been a communist country for 40 years.

The Iraq war was to create a “vibrant democracy in the Middle East.” The cost was 4,500 American and 100,000 Iraqi lives. According to current newspaper reports, our effort has been a miserable failure.

The Afghanistan war – well, we don’t know yet. At last report, the Afghan army we are training seems to be shooting at our guys – after 12 years of effort. So lots of killing and destruction under both Democratic and Republican leadership.

How many Christian pastors ever mention these things? I know drone attacks are not discussed in the New Testament, but don’t the teachings of Jesus Christ have anything to say about all this blood and destruction? Have Christian churches ever met a war they didn’t approve of? Have they dared to express their disapproval?

Most Christian pastors preach a strangely truncated version of Jesus. If the actions of the state are contrary to Jesus’ teachings, they remain silent? Why? They know if they discussed these matters, their parishioners would go home and say, “Hell, when I go to church on Sunday morning I want to hear about Jesus – not a bunch of damn politics!”